Frances Jenner

So many burgeoning startups are focused on one thing – getting the funding they need to grow their business and make it profitable. But what if that’s actually one of the worst things a young company can do? Bootstrapping a […]

Nostalgia is an inherent part of the human condition. This becomes patently obvious the moment you take a glance around popular culture; TV programmes Stranger Things and The Americans are painfully popular with their heavy curtains and garish wallpaper We […]

It appears that nothing is safe from disruption by either the internet or the startup industry. The most recent development is a move by both well-established companies and burgeoning startups into the pharmaceutical industry, but could they really provide an […]

Canada is all-too-often overshadowed by its louder, more boisterous neighbour. However, despite the United States’ reputation as a fertile breeding ground for startups, Silicon Valley’s sky-high prices are causing its popularity to wane among budding startups. For those wanting to […]

Have you ever been interviewed by a robot? Although this might conjure images of a human-like android blinking on the opposite side of a desk, the more insidious reality is much closer than it seems, if it hasn’t arrived already. […]

A beautiful plant, with a green stem, with leaves at the bottom and at the top is a flower with oval-shaped petals that grow upwards rather than outwards. Try asking Google that same search phrase and it’s unlikely you’ll get […]

Final Straw is a Canadian company that has finally created what the world has been in dire need of for a long time: The reusable straw. The product exploded on Kickstarter and its $12,500 goal was left in the dust as […]

Throw away those abandoned packets of Splenda and your guilty-pleasure sugar stash, a new augmented taste startup has created a coffee lid that tricks your tongue into tasting sugar even where there is none. Sweetbud was created by Sara Du […]

Ever taken your mobile to the toilet to take a private call? Hidden behind some pot plants? No longer, as Ukrainian company Hushme have created the first wearable gadget that muffles your voice to an indistinguishable mumble. The bluetooth enabled […]

Harassmap is a non-profit organisation that is hoping to eradicate sexual harassment from Egypt by changing how society perceives the issue. The company, founded by four women in 2010, created a map where people can anonymously record incidents of sexual […]

“One of the biggest shocks [of going into prison] is the feeling of when a door slams, the clang of the door slamming, the key being turned and the knowledge that one is helpless in that situation to leave,” Baillie […]

Everyone who’s ever been single has endured the pitying looks from friends and family, felt the empathetic arm-squeeze, and heard how many fish there are in the sea. But with fish stocks rapidly depleting, singletons abound in society while searching […]

StartUp Beat has relaunched to take a new and improved look at startups from around the world. We will continue to profile the world’s most innovative early-stage startups through company pitches, interviews and guest columns from entrepreneurial experts. StartUp Beat is now based in Medellín, Colombia, one of Latin America’s burgeoning tech hubs.